Chuck McCullagh's views from Manhattan on magazine and publishing technology.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Peter Pan, the Old Man, and Brands that Last Forever

Over the Labor Day weekend, I watched a DVD by the late
psychologist James Hillman on the Puer and the Senex, with the former referring
generally to the archetype of the eternally young, as in Peter Pan, and the
latter to the hide-bound, rule-waving elder, man or woman, who wants the rest
of society to stay within the lines. From
a Jungian perspective, these archetypes describe psychological modes of being
as well as types of behavior. We saw
these archetypes on display at the recent Republican Convention; Clint Eastwood, an aging, angry, scolding
Senex talking to a chair; and Representative Paul Ryan, sketching a trajectory
of the high-flying Puer, who shaved an hour off his marathon time. Whatever sins might have been committed at the
convention, any runner will argue that this “sin” was as mortal as they get. Runners never forget their marathon times. Running a marathon in under three hours is as
difficult as Congress passing a balanced budget.

In his presentation, Dr. Hillman mentioned Clint Eastwood’s
role in the movie Gran Torino, in which the actor portrays a disgruntled Korean
War veteran who openly resents the changes in the ethnic make-up of his Detroit
neighborhood, especially the influx of the Hmong Americans. For Hillman, Eastwood’s character, Walt
Kowalski, is Senex to the core, even when he softened his view towards the
Hmong. Kowalski is “executed” in a manner consistent with his warrior culture
and cunning. His character cannot really
think or get out of the box.

Hillman, whose psychology is apolitical, suggests that with
all the idealization of the Puer, with his or her legions of Twitter followers
and Facebook friends, the Senex, known for stubbornness, avarice, and
resistance to change, will likely win the day. We see this played out daily in our political
theater. President Obama’s promise of Change
ran headlong into the Senex, who knows how to deal with the golden age of
fantasy.

If the Senex and the Puer represent psychological modes or
perspectives, they can also be seen to represent brands which, when successful,
are also archetypes. This is what makes
them abiding and generally long-lasting. I was thinking about this aspect of brands
when reading about the late Helen Gurley Brown and her remarkable
transformation of Cosmopolitan
magazine and eventual international expansion. This is certainly one of the most important
magazines success stories, from both an editorial and business perspective, of
the last fifty years.

While the Senex and the Puer might be battling it out on the
national stage, it’s an open question whether brands can retain their
historical permanence. Douglas McIntyre
has blogged about ten brands that will disappear in 2013 (www.24/wallst.com), including RIM, Avon,
Suzuki, American Airlines and others. The sweet smell of private equity money
is present here and very little nostalgia.

I’ve heard over the years that somehow magazines brands are
more resilient than so-called commodity brands because they carry our personal
and cultural archetypes; in other words, our essential meanings. Christine Haughney and Noam Cohen writing in
the NYT Media Decoder conducted an unscientific reader poll of what magazines
they missed (www.nyt.com/magazines-you-miss-from-skateboarder-to-metropolitan-home-but-mainly-gourmet/?). Gourmet, shut down three years ago, “was
the dearest of the dearly departed.” Spy,Talk,
George, and House and Garden also made the list.

I was at Hachette when George
magazine was launched with John Kennedy as publisher. I had a business development role at the
company but little to do with George.
But I made my views clear on the
magazine; I thought it lacked a business model.
The magazine lasted two years after Kennedy’s tragic death in 1999.

George was very
much in the Puer tradition, a marriage of Kennedy mystique and celebrity
politics; an arc of brilliance and an Icarus-like fall. The magazine struggled before Kennedy’s death
and was impossible after the fact.

Most magazines, whether they have a short lifespan or not, have
archetypal roots and done well are grounded in in our culture, memory, and
mythology.